Valid sequential inference on probability forecast performance
Summary Probability forecasts for binary events play a central role in many applications. Their quality is commonly assessed with proper scoring rules, which assign forecasts numerical scores such that a correct forecast achieves a minimal expected score. In this paper, we construct e-values for tes...
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| Published in: | Biometrika Vol. 109; no. 3; pp. 647 - 663 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
01.09.2022
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| Subjects: | |
| ISSN: | 0006-3444, 1464-3510 |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Summary
Probability forecasts for binary events play a central role in many applications. Their quality is commonly assessed with proper scoring rules, which assign forecasts numerical scores such that a correct forecast achieves a minimal expected score. In this paper, we construct e-values for testing the statistical significance of score differences of competing forecasts in sequential settings. E-values have been proposed as an alternative to $p$-values for hypothesis testing, and they can easily be transformed into conservative $p$-values by taking the multiplicative inverse. The e-values proposed in this article are valid in finite samples without any assumptions on the data-generating processes. They also allow optional stopping, so a forecast user may decide to interrupt evaluation, taking into account the available data at any time, and still draw statistically valid inference, which is generally not true for classical $p$-value-based tests. In a case study on post-processing of precipitation forecasts, state-of-the-art forecast dominance tests and e-values lead to the same conclusions. |
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| ISSN: | 0006-3444 1464-3510 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/biomet/asab047 |